Mark of Trigon (Reuploaded)
by CrashandSonic11
Summary: Reuploading stories now, but I can't remember the summaries
1. Chapter 1

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 1: Wake Up**_

It had been a week since 'the end of the world', said event had been avoided, prevented by the Teen Titans and the Justice League.

The Teen Titan known as Raven had once again trapped her father Trigon within a red gem.

While said entrapment spell was being activated by Raven herself, everyone else had been stalling Trigon and his minions.

The League had been stalling Trigon on Earth, while the Titans were distracting the various demons within Trigon's realm.

Garfield Logan, also known as Beast Boy, had 'trouble' when he entered the realm with the team. He had unwillingly morphed into various demonic creatures, but retained full control and had helped massively in distracting the demons.

What no one realised is that this drew Trigon's attention, despite not being in his realm at the time he was very aware of what was happening there, he found the green shapeshifter an interesting specimen, so mere seconds before being trapped within the gem once more - He successfully placed a very complex curse on Garfield.

A powerful curse that he alone could only place every 500 years before regaining enough strength to use again. For a very good reason.

The Mark of Trigon, a curse that when placed on a mortal would start up a ritual, two weeks after being placed, the target would become a portal, sort of like what Trigon had tried with Raven, his daughter.

However, the major difference is what happens next, said portal would be transported to the caster's realm and they would do battle as mortals, only the survivor would walk away, walk through the portal created before it closed forever.

There were a few 'problems' with the ritual however besides Trigon having to battle the green one as a mortal when the time came, if the 'portal' were to die before the ritual was complete, then the ritual would fail, and Trigon would need to wait another 500 years to try the ritual again.

There was also the fact that the green one had unstable DNA, and as seen that day, he had the ability to morph into demonic creatures too, meaning there was a chance that since the ritual was demonic in nature then the green one would end up morphing into one to match Trigon in the battle.

The previous mortal to be subjected to this ritual was Azarathian, no surprises. This mortal had escaped the Trigon's realm upon entering, and to prevent the completion of the ritual and therefore the destruction of Azarath, he had taken his own life off-world.

Trigon had hoped that this time would be different, he hoped this time he would win, win the Earth.

" _ **Wake up Garfield. Your time has come..."**_

(_)

Within the Titans Tower, in said shapeshifter's bedroom he had woken up with a start, and that's when he forgot the strange nightmare to notice the strange markings on his body.

"Uh, when did I get tattoos?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 2: 7 Days**_

Garfield looked into the mirror that was in his room, he saw himself, but different, the strange markings on his body, he didn't remember getting them or how he got them.

"The others will freak out if they saw these…" He whispered to himself, his uniform covered up most of the markings but when he looked in the mirror again he just remembered that there were markings on his hands, and face.

He rushed to his wardrobe and came out with his old gloves and put them on, but what about the markings on his face?

He looked in the mirror, and noticed that most of the face markings were on his forehead, he found a comb and brushed hair to cover up the front of his head, to cover the markings, it kinda worked. There were still small markings on the lower half of his face, he decided to just say they were scars from the Trigon Incident from a week ago as a cover up story.

"Geez, Raes got the right Idea. I should add a hood to my uniform one day, too." He whispered to himself again as he gazed into the mirror checking to see anymore noticeable markings.

He was nearly frightened out of said uniform when someone knocked on his door, he froze up for a few seconds before asking a very intelligent, "Yeah?"

The voice answered, someone who he didn't expect, someone who would blow his cover very easily at any moment, she could read minds and emotions.

Raven.

A living lie detector basically, so he would have to try harder to cover up his emotions and clear his thoughts otherwise she would put two and two together and start asking questions, to which he didn't know the answers.

He response was relatively quiet as usual, "Wake up, Garfield. It's morning." He heard her walking away afterwards, he tip toed to the door before opening it and looking out into the hallway, the coast was clear now.

He decided to let the team know he was up, to see if the markings were covered up enough.

He took a single step out into the hallway and pain shot through his head and he collapsed to one knee hissing in silent agony, he saw a red glow appear in front of him, materialising into the face of the one being he least expected to see again, Trigon.

The apparition spoke to him, _**"Garfield Logan. Those markings are more than mere tattoos, they are the markings of Trigon, you have 7 days left, mortal."**_

Garfield winced in pain as he barely whispered, "7 days til what?"

The vision of Trigon grinned evilly, _**"My daughter wasn't the only way for me to enter and claim your precious planet. You, Garfield Logan are as you mortals call it: Plan B. You have 7 days before you become a portal just like the half-demon, key difference: the ritual can't be negated, you will be transported to my domain, and I will kill you allowing me passage to Earth once more."**_

Garfield's eyes widened at the realisation as Trigon continued his monologue, _**"Yes, Garfield Logan, this time you're the sacrifice to my conquering of Earth, with your death in the domain of the ritual caster, I shall claim what is rightfully mine."**_

Garfield's gaze went towards the ground, "No, this is just a nightmare, I'm still asleep…"

Trigon chuckled darkly, _**"Don't even try to tell my daughter, she cannot prevent the ritual, no one can."**_

Garfield slowly raised his gaze back to the vision of Trigon, "What if I die before then?"

He honestly didn't know what was going through his head when he asked this but he assumed that the ritual would fail if he died before the end of the week, before the ritual started.

The fact that Trigon fell silent at that, made Garfield suspicious, Trigon muttered his bitter response before disappearing, _**"Then I'll just claim your soul and wait another 500 years."**_

Garfield got back to his feet and stumbled slightly, now he knew what the markings were, they were the Markings of Trigon, part of a ritual, he was going to become a portal in 7 days, not how he expected to go out.

Should he tell the team? His friends? The Justice League? Raven?

He decided that he probably should tell them something before the 7 day mark, but he couldn't just walk into the common room and say, 'Hey guys, I woke up with strange markings on my body and got a vision from Trigon saying that the markings make me his Plan B for claiming Earth, but ya know whatever, got 7 days til then.'

The team would lose it at that point, they'd call up the League and tell them the bad news, who knew what they would do about it.

He could see their reactions now, Robin would facepalm, Starfire would smash a table or two, Blue Beetle would probably swear under his breath in his native tongue, and Raven?

Who knew?

She would likely have mixed reactions, and it's likely that they definitely won't be pleasant, she would probably yell at him, kill him, bring him back, yell at him more, then kill him again.

He took a deep breath, he was at the common room door.

"Now or never…" ____


	3. Chapter 3

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 3: Teen Team Talk**_

Garfield entered the common room and saw what each team member was doing.

Raven was drinking herbal tea and reading a book, Robin and Blue Beetle were watching T.V, and Starfire was cooking.

'Act natural, then break it to 'em.' Garfield thought to himself, unfortunately for him the team heard the door open and were now looking in his direction.

'Have they noticed?' He thought to himself and automatically slapped himself mentally when he remembered that there was a telepath in the room.

The telepath herself, Raven, didn't say a word and just went back to what she was doing.

The rest soon followed, Starfire greeted him first, "Good afternoon, Gar."

Garfield chuckled nervously, "Don't you mean morning?"

Starfire pointed to a clock while raising an eyebrow, Garfield looked at the clock and found that it was 1pm.

He decided to play it off, "Is that a new record?" He smirked.

Starfire chuckled softly, "You'll never change." She then went back to cooking.

Garfield decided to sit down, next to Raven of course.

He only just noticed her eye twitch when he did so, he smirked before speaking.

"Hey Rae." He didn't expect her answer so quickly.

"Hey Gar." Garfield played it off with a grin.

"Have we bonded that much already?" She turned to face him with an unreadable expression.

"What?" Garfield shrugged in response, the smirk still present.

"You haven't killed me for calling you Rae, so I assumed it's because we've bonded enough for that." He noticed her eye twitch again.

"Thank you for reminding me of my old ways, I'll remember this for next time." She went back to her book and Garfield could have sworn he saw her smirk.

He shrugged it off and noticed that Starfire was done in the kitchen, it was his chance to get something to eat for breakfast … and lunch…

He went to the fridge and pulled out his tofu and started making his breakfast-lunch.

He had to tell them at some point of the day, they had to know, they needed to know that Trigon was going to use him in a messed up ritual.

He finished his breakfast-lunch, and saw the team watching T.V minus Raven who was still reading. He took a deep breath, he had to tell them now.

"Uh, guys?" They turned to look at him, Raven's eye twitched as she looked at him.

"There's some bad news that I gotta get off my chest…" They raised eyebrows.

Now or never, "I woke up today with these weird markings on my body, but when I exited my room…"

He had their attention now, Starfire motioned to go on.

Garfield exhaled before continuing, "IgotavisionfromTrigonsayingthatheplacedthemarkingsonmeforsomeritualwhichhappenstbehisplanBforconqueringEarth,pleasedon'tkillmeRae." He panted for talking too fast, he noticed the team's reaction.

Raven deadpanned, "Try that again, slower this time."

Garfield nodded slowly, "Trigon said the markings were placed by him for a ritual."

Raven frowned, but remained silent, Starfire raised an eyebrow, the rest of the team seemed skeptical.

"Garfield, Trigon's trapped in that gem. How would this ritual work?" Blue Beetle spoke.

Garfield was losing his composure, he was getting stressed, "I saw him, that lunatic cursed me."

Raven spoke up, "Show us the markings." The room fell silent, Garfield had a hint of red in his cheeks.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know how far they go…"

Raven rolled her eyes, she had hidden her slight blush easily because of her hood.

She deadpanned with, "Just the shirt and gloves."

Garfield nodded, and took off his glove as he sat down beside Raven.

She took his hand and studied the marking on his hand, "Does it go up the arm?"

Garfield nodded and pulled up his sleeve, Raven studied the markings on his arm.

She shook her head slightly, "I've never seen these markings before, I was raised in Azarath not in Hell."

Garfield didn't respond, he was silent which was rare until now.

Raven spoke again, "There's markings on your face, too?"

Garfield nodded as he brushed the hair out of the way with his hands, Raven studied those markings too.

Raven sighed in slight frustration, "Are there any more markings?"

Garfield nodded, "Chest and legs…"

Raven shook her head slightly and whispered, "Shirt off…"

Garfield took his shirt off allowing them to see the other markings.

Raven kept her composure as she studied the markings on his chest.

Blue Beetle tilted his head and pointed to Garfield's back, "Uh, guys…"

The team walked over to look at Garfield's back, and found what seemed to be a red rash, but it was glowing.

Raven didn't look away from the 'rash' as she spoke once more, "Did he tell you when the ritual would take place?" Garfield closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"I've got a week."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 4: Supernatural Studies**_

The room fell silent, 7 days, that was how long they had, how long Garfield had.

After a mere week, Trigon's ritual would light the markings and start up another apocalypse.

Garfield was the catalyst for the ritual, their own teammate, their own friend, much like Raven.

But they won that time, the Justice League had been able to distract Trigon long enough for Raven and her team to reach the gem within Trigon's realm, and the team distracted the various demons there while Raven chanted her mantra to prison Trigon within the gem once again.

Now apparently, before being imprisoned he had managed to place a ritual curse on one of their own before he was trapped again.

The team wasn't taking this well.

"A week?" Raven repeated, getting quieter each time she said the phrase. To which Garfield would only nod. "Are there any loopholes with the ritual that may have slipped from Trigon while in his monologue mode?"

Garfield seemed to be in thought before answering, not an answer he was comfortable giving however. "When I asked if the ritual would fail if I died before the 7 day mark, he just said he'd claim my soul and wait another 500 years..." Garfield opened his eyes now, "Does that mean anything?"

Raven frowned as did the rest of the team, "There has to be another way."

Starfire nodded, "Should we be worried about that 'rash' on his back?"

Raven looked at the rash again, "Possibly, it's glowing afterall. Rashes don't really glow like that, it may be connected to the ritual."

Starfire nodded again in understanding, Blue Beetle shook his head slightly and did what Garfield expected him to do anyway: He swore under his breath in his native tongue.

Robin had double facepalmed at this point, he looked stressed.

Starfire sighed sadly, "Should we tell the League?" The team looked at eachother (minus Garfield who was looking at the ground) then at her, the team then looked at Garfield who noticed.

"Why are you staring at me? Ya know besides the markings, the glowing red rash, and the fact that an interdimensional demon cursed me with his Plan B ritual." They stared blankly before Robin spoke, "We have to tell the League."

Garfield stared back at them and sighed, "Yeah, I guess we do."

Raven spoke up, "Perhaps they might know something about this ritual, or at least someone who does. I might need to study it seems."

"We all do." Starfire responded, "I'll call the League." She walked towards the main computer to start up the call.

Blue Beetle let out a frustrated noise before going to the training room with Robin who would no doubt be slicing things with his sword again.

That left Garfield with Raven who surprisingly hadn't left yet he found her still staring at him, he raised an eyebrow despite being a tad nervous on the inside.

She soon responded quietly, barely audible, "This is going to be the worst week of my life…" Garfield being part animal had enhanced senses and picked up on this however.

"Don't you mean the second worst week?" She easily hid the blush under her hood and spoke calmly, keeping her composure, actually surprised he heard, and slightly embarrassed about what she was going to say next.

"That week is nothing compared to this…"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 5: Six days left**_

A day had passed, one day out of the total 7, therefore 6 days remained, 6 days before the ritual.

The curse bearer himself had locked himself in his room, obviously just as stressed as everyone else.

He didn't want them to see him right now, in truth, he was scared, and why wouldn't he be?

In 6 more days, he would become a sacrifice for an interdimensional demon to conquer his home world.

Just like…

Raven.

She was Trigon's Plan A into conquering Earth, his own daughter.

Worst part? She grew up knowing this her whole life.

But when the time came, Trigon was defeated.

Can they do it again?

Could they really stop a ritual they didn't know anything about?

Garfield found out very quickly that he was going to die, either preventing the ritual or when it happened.

He was a sacrifice willing to make a sacrifice.

Garfield sat in his room trying desperately to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, one tear managed to escape his eye, then another, and another, before he knew it, he was crying.

He tried so hard to keep up the facade, for years as a matter of fact, the psychological trauma of being unable to save his parents as only watch as they died had hit him hard, he was no older than 6 at the time, his abusive uncle that tortured him for a large fraction of his childhood, running away and joining the Doom Patrol.

So much, and then this.

It was at this point, that the past trauma got to him, that the stress became too much, posttraumatic stress, a mental breakdown.

Regardless, he had to keep it together, if not for his own sanity then for his team, his family.

They were working hard to uncover secrets to the ritual they knew nothing about, the Justice League was called to help, they arrived in mere hours.

Everyone had been telling Garfield that everything would turn out ok in the end, that Trigon would not win, that they would do everything in their power to prevent the ritual. Well, Raven had been silent throughout, there must've been A LOT on her mind, who could blame her?

Garfield had also mentioned to the League that his death before the ritual took place was one way to prevent said ritual, like the Titans they refused and agreed with the Titans that there had to be another way.

Was there another way?

Garfield's eyes had grown dry, the tears finally stopping, he didn't look at the clock to find out how long it had taken him to do so.

He regained his composure with perfect timing as someone knocked on his door.

"Yes? Who is it?" He managed to say without slipping up on his current state of mind.

Once again he hadn't expected it, but it happened to be the one person he least expected but at the same time kind of did.

"It's Raven, we need to talk."

Garfield made his way to the door and opened it to reveal the half-demon in front of him, "Uh, what about?" Her response was a raised eyebrow.

"The ritual of course." Garfield responded with a small nod.

"Uh, alright, come in." He let her enter she took a moment to look around his room as he closed the door.

She turned to him and stared for a moment before an unreadable expression crossed her face, "Have you been crying?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 6: A talk**_

Garfield was caught of guard and his voice was caught in his throat, might be too far to say the cat had caught his tongue or the half-demon more so had caught on.

A realisation struck him like a hammer, she was an empath, a telepath, and had known him for years even. It shouldn't be a surprise that she would catch on to his facade at some point, she probably sensed his sadness from the hallway while he was crying.

He soon managed to speak, but it was barely heard by said empath. "Yes."

Raven's unreadable expression changed ever so slowly to one of concern, "It's come to my attention that although the team is taking this hard, that you obviously took it hardest."

Garfield tried to avoid eye contact but found that for some currently unknown reason, he couldn't look away.

Raven continued as she approached him, "I should know this when I say it from experience, that being told that you will be a sacrifice to allow a demonic conqueror into whatever home world you live in isn't exactly, a nice experience…"

Garfield chuckled quietly, "I'm freaking out honestly." Raven nodded.

"I did too." Garfield didn't notice that Raven had been moving closer towards him until she was mere inches in front of him, he tried to hide the blush.

Raven was unaware to the reason she drew closer towards the green shapeshifter, perhaps it was just some way to sympathise or calm him down.

"That's probably a relatively normal way to react however." Raven continued.

Garfield held a small smile, "Yeah, probably." He hadn't expected Raven to smile back, it was a small smile but a smile nevertheless.

"You're smiling." Raven dropped the smile and lowered her gaze slightly.

"Sorry." Garfield shook his head slowly, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't apologise for that, I like it when you smile." Raven's gaze slowly returned to Garfield's face as she noticed a small genuine smile on his face, she couldn't help but her small smile returned too.

"Thank you. I came here to cheer you up honestly, but it seems you returned the favor."

Garfield realised he still hand his hand on her shoulder and slowly removed it, before chuckling nervously.

Raven hadn't noticed his hand was still on her shoulder until he slowly removed it, "Don't worry Garfield, this is between us." She said with her small smile still remaining on her face.

Garfield didn't know why but he couldn't fight the urge, he pulled Raven into a hug, and it caught her off guard, she stiffened at the gesture but she decided to return it and hug back.

"Thanks Raven." Garfield whispered, he felt a lot better now, he had calmed down, glad that Raven was there to help him through this.

"Don't worry, we'll sort this out." She whispered back.

Garfield was silent at that, but soon managed to whisper a response, "I believe you..."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 7: Five days left**_

Another day has passed, and unfortunately, the teams weren't getting very much information on the ritual that was going to occur in less than a week.

Besides the information Trigon had given Garfield, they hadn't discovered very much.

Key words being 'very much', they did find something, well Raven did.

Apparently, according to ancient Azarathian tomes, this wasn't the first time Trigon had attempted this ritual, roughly 500 years ago he had tried it with an Azarathian, this bearer had transported himself off-world and taken his own life to prevent Trigon from using the ritual to conquer Azarath.

He was given the title of 'Azarson' with his sacrifice, but due to Raven's birth years later, they had forgotten such a thing and the tomes were 'lost'.

There was only one tome that remained describing the 'Azarson Event', and Raven had it, this tome was one of many tomes that she had received during her time in Azarath.

Did this make Garfield the next 'Azarson'?

No, he was going to live through this. He wasn't even Azarathian, he was, somewhat human.

The tome didn't really tell other ways to stop the ritual besides death, it did however tell the days leading up to the final day.

On the last day the 'Azarson' was transported to Trigon's realm against their will, that much was told, the 'Azarson' being an Azarathian was soon able to transport himself to another realm and take their own life to prevent the ritual, muttering his last words, _"He's too strong, even as a mortal."_

'Even as a Mortal'? Did that mean that the ritual would end up weakening Trigon to that extent? An Azarathian had confirmed that the ritual took so much energy to conjure that it would render beings such as Trigon mortal for the ritual's duration.

That meant they had a chance, they had a chance to end his attempts forever.

Two days had passed and Garfield's 'rash' had gotten worse, it had spread, and now covered his entire back, this was concerning.

Raven tried and tried again to find anything in her tomes regarding the rash and found nothing, when she attempted to heal it nothing happened, this only made things more concerning.

Garfield told the teams not to worry about the rash, they had far more serious things to worry about right now.

They reluctantly conceded, and went back to 'studying'.

Yes, the League was helping, they didn't exactly leave since they arrived.

Only a few of their members going out at a time to take care of the crime back home, the rest still stayed to study, needless to say, Batman never left, he studied harder than the other members of the League for some reason.

One member of the Titans however, studied harder than the rest, Raven.

Ever since her talk with Garfield last night, she had been trying even harder to find answers to the puzzle that was the ritual known as: 'The Mark of Trigon.'


	8. Chapter 8

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 8: Four Days Left**_

With the passing of another day, the dread of the situation only drew closer.

The dread would only get closer, that was the logical problem.

As of now the teams were starting to get desperate, Garfield was concerned about how desperate, Batman had even gone as far as to track down Trigon cults and interrogate them, 'interrogate' in Batman's language meaning to beat the snot out of them when none of the cultists said anything remotely helpful.

Just stuff along the lines of: _"Trigon will come." - "Our lord starts the next phase of Plan B in mere days." - "One of said heroes is once again a noble sacrifice."_

With each passing day, the teams grew more desperate, and Garfield began to see that there were ONLY two options, to prevent it the noble way or to let it happen.

The noble way to prevent it was painstakingly obvious, but the teams outright refused for such an outcome, and letting it happen was a very dangerous risk.

But the more Garfield thought this over and over, trying to find where he went wrong, a phrase that Trigon had responded with during the reveal of the ritual rushed through his head again, it regarded the noble sacrifice.

" _Then I'll just claim your soul."_

It hit Garfield like a truck, he realised that if he died, Trigon would just claim his soul and who knew what he'd do with it.

Garfield was not only a sacrifice willing to make a sacrifice, but he was also, as some would put it, Soul-Trapped.

Both outcomes could end with his death, it became clear that if he was to truly win, he would have to live through this.

Would he still be soul-trapped if he beat Trigon?

Something Raven would likely know the answer to, but he wasn't sure about telling her such a thing, it would only make things worse.

Things were bad enough already, he seemed to be an irrevocable sacrifice that would end up being a catalyst to his very home becoming conquered by the demon that cursed him.

Telling them that he was also soul-trapped would drive them over the edge.

A voice in his head told him that Raven should know, that she would understand, that just like the last talk, that it would be between them.

This really was one heck of a ritual, he remembered something rather similar to it in a video game he played, the power was called Soul Tear (A/N: Sorry couldn't resist the reference)

He decided that he would likely have to tell Raven about the fact that he may be soul-trapped.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 9: Three Days Left**_

Garfield made his way down the hallway, and soon arrived at Raven's door, he was about to knock when she opened the door both of them were caught off guard.

Raven spoke first, "Yes, what is it Garfield?" Said shapeshifter soon responded.

"I just wanted to talk to you, there's something wrong." His gaze fell to the floor.

Raven frowned slightly before letting Garfield in, "Is it about the rash?"

Garfield had forgotten about the rash as a matter of fact, the teams had asked if it hurt at all and he truthfully answered no, because it actually didn't hurt for some reason.

"No, worse." Raven raised an eyebrow in concern.

"Explain." Garfield nodded slowly.

"I think I've also been soul-trapped…" He decided to push it out as quick as he could, for he feared that if he hesitated for even a moment that he would break down in front of her.

He reluctantly looked up to see her reaction, she was frozen, her expression obviously shocked.

"Soul-Trapped?" She repeated, Garfield nodded slowly before responding.

"Yeah, I came here to tell you because I thought you could answer a question I have about it."

Raven merely nodded slowly as he continued, "If I beat Trigon, will I still be soul-trapped?"

Raven was in deep thought, Garfield was not only cursed to be the sacrifice for Trigon's rule of Earth, but Trigon was unfortunately smart enough to give the ritual a failsafe, Soul-Trapping.

Raven reluctantly answered, "I… I've never used a soul-trap spell before, it's normally a demon thing mind you, but I'm positive that if Trigon was killed while in his mortal form that not only would the ritual fail, but that the bearer, you in this case, would be free."

There's that word, 'free'.

A word for something not many ever seem to get, no matter how much they deserve it.

Garfield nodded slowly, happy that if he did win, that if Trigon was defeated forever, that it truly was forever.

"Thanks again, Raven." He whispered, she was able to hear him.

She caught him off guard this time and pulled him into a hug, he pushed his blush aside to hug back, oblivious to the fact that Raven had her own blush. She whispered to him, "Your presence despite the situation is enough for such gratitude."

Garfield smirked slightly, she was trying to play it cool.

"I hope you're right, and I mean it when I say that ya know." Garfield said as they finally pulled apart from the pretty awkward hug.

Raven smiled slightly, happy to see some remnants of Garfield's old self, she decided to play along, "I'm always right, Garfield."

She earned a small laugh from Garfield, and she was happy for it.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 10: Two Days Left**_

He was wrong, despite that only Raven knew about the soul-trap thing, the dread of the passing days leading up to the ritual had made things worse.

Only two days remained, and things weren't exactly getting any better, everyone was stressed out, Garfield could tell that no one had been sleeping much at all, he sighed in a depressed tone when he told himself the reason he didn't want.

"It's all because of me…"

He didn't know if he was referring to the stress of the teams due to the ritual or if it was, everything else.

Everything that had happened to him because of one wrong choice he made, ever since he got bitten by that green monkey.

Sakutia, that's how it all began, his parents saved his life with an experimental serum which is now lost to the world, except, in his very own body, the Sakutia isn't gone, it's dormant, the animal DNA allowing immunity to the effects of said disease the effects including excruciating pain and death, Garfield had cheated Death and got away with only a mutation, he was a green animorph.

The unstable DNA allowing him to morph into any animal he could think of at will, the curse of said gift became apparent rather quickly, he was green, he would become an outcast, a freak to society, his uncle made sure that he knew this, tortured the boy for years right after the 6 year old witnessed the deaths of his own parents and was too helpless at the time to save them.

He ran away when he learnt that his so called uncle planned to kill him, Garfield ended up joining the Doom Patrol by chance, they taught him how to use his powers, he finally had a family again.

But the time came where, he had to leave, so he traveled, and soon found himself in Jump City and then joined another team, another family.

The Teen Titans.

The same Teen Titans that were practically avoiding sleep in order to study for answers on how to deal with the ritual that would occur in mere days.

The same Teen Titans that had called in the world famous Justice League for help.

The same Teen Titans that seemed dead serious on not giving up on him, despite how obvious the outcome seemed to be.

The Teen Titans, they were his family, and they weren't giving up on him, and for that, he was willing to try, to try not to give up on himself either.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 11: One Day**_

The fatigue catching up to them, the teams had fallen asleep during last night, and panicked when they noticed there was one day left.

Raven went to go wake up Garfield, who was no doubt still asleep.

She knocked on his door lightly, "Wake up, Gar. One day left." There was no answer. She knocked again, "Garfield, wake up." She started to get worried.

"Garfield open the door." When there was no answer again she panicked and teleported into the room only to find Garfield knocked out and being tied up by Trigon cultists.

She was about to act when they disappeared in a red mist, and then they were gone.

She stood frozen staring at the spot they once were, the severity of the situation she just witnessed catching up to her, Garfield just got kidnapped, the next phase of the ritual was about to start.

She couldn't hold her composure, not this time.

Raven fell to her knees, unable to hold back the tears, she heard footsteps approach from behind, the teams had arrived.

"Raven, what happened? Where's Garfield?" Starfire asked, concern easily noticed in her voice.

Raven didn't look at them, she would hide her tears from them, "Batman, which Trigon Cult hasn't been placed in prison yet?" The teams noticed an uneasy tone in her voice, it didn't take long for them to know what this meant, Garfield had been kidnapped by Trigon Cultists for the next phase of the ritual, and poor Raven saw it happen.

Batman spoke, "Just one, in Gotham." Raven stood up with determination in her voice.

"Then we go there." Batman nodded.

The teams gathered and made their way to Gotham, following Batman to the Trigon Cult that had taken their friend.

When they arrived in Gotham however, panic was evident, they had mere hours left now.

They wasted no time as they charged into the building only to witness that they now had mere minutes.

Garfield was awake, knowing what was about to happen, the inevitable.

Only now did Garfield and the team realise that the red rash had spread to his chest and partially his head.

Garfield had a hunch at what this rash really was, maybe it was some sick kind of a timer?

There were mere seconds left now, he looked at his team and the League who realised that they were mere seconds too late for what was about to happen, "I'll kick his butt, I promise."

With that Garfield felt a surge of pain and was transported to Trigon's realm, and speak of the devil, figure speech of course, Trigon stood in front of him.

" _ **I've been waiting, Garfield."**_ Trigon snarled, _**"For 500 years to use this ritual again, and I believe I chose well this time, the weakest of the Titans."**_

Back on Earth, Raven let her tears flow and could only hope, will Garfield return?


	12. Chapter 12

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 12: Unleashed**_

Garfield gazed at the one who started the events that made up this week, Trigon.

It was now that the 'rash' had now covered his entire body and his eyes started to sting, Trigon stopped approaching and started in disbelief.

This is what he feared would happen, Garfield's two eyes became four, each glowing green, his green skin now glowing red, serrated teeth, his claws now longer and deadlier, his hair remaining green for unknown reasons.

Garfield realised now, his unstable DNA had reacted to the demonic nature of the ritual, this had caused an unwillingness in his body, just like his last visit to Trigon's realm, an unwillingness to morph into something he hadn't morphed into before, this time?

A full fledged demon.

Trigon snarled, _**"Now I**_ _ **have**_ _ **to kill you."**_

Garfield glared at Trigon, **"What have you done to me?!"**

Garfield looked at his glowing, blood-red, demonic hands in disbelief.

He was glad he didn't have a mirror at this point, **"Now I'm just like you…"**

Trigon frowned, the green one still had control?

Trigon smirked evilly, now his soul was worth keeping, all he had to do now was take it.

" _ **Now I**_ _ **really have**_ _ **to kill you, that soul will be a great addition to my army for when I invade Earth."**_

At this Garfield moved his gaze from his hands and to Trigon, an unreadable expression on his face. In a few more seconds the expression drastically changed to one of rage, the four demonic eyes glowing red for a split second.

" **OVER MY DEAD BODY!"**

Trigon smirked once more before responding, _**"Precisely."**_

(...)

Back on Earth, the teams had frozen on the spot, had they failed?

Their gaze moving from the spot Garfield disappeared to the now crying Raven. __

She had lashed out on the cultists before collapsing to her knees in despair, had they failed to protect Garfield? Had she failed to protect him? Those were two of many questions traveling through Raven's mind.

(...)

Back in Trigon's realm, said demon was sent flying into a pile of rubble, and recovered just in time to avoid another killer-blow from Demo-Beast.

Trigon shot a large amount of energy at his target through his four demonic eyes, the attack however didn't hit it's mark, Garfield had avoided the attack seemingly without effort.

Taking initiative, Garfield used the same attack, difference: This one hit it's target.

Trigon was once again knocked onto his back, however before he could recover Demo-Beast was on to him already, clawing at Trigon's body with the talons on his demonic hands.

He gripped Trigon by the throat, obviously hell-bent on killing the monster.

Despite the choking, and the blood dripping from everywhere, Trigon smirked.

Despite the fact that a mere mortal was about to kill him, he smirked.

In a strained voice he spoke to Garfield, _**"This is it is it? A mortal killing a god?"**_

Garfield snarled, **"You're no god…"**

Trigon continued to smirk, _**"Technicalities aside, Garfield."**_

Garfield's frown turned dangerous, **"Don't call me Garfield, only my friends call me that…"**

Trigon wouldn't stop smirking, it was beginning to annoy Garfield.

" **Either I'll rip that smile off your face or you can die smiling…"**

Trigon laughed, _**"Do it."**_

Garfield started blankly as Trigon continued to egg him on, _**"Kill the god, hero."**_

Garfield's expression was unreadable as Trigon went on, _**"You see, everyone has the potential to become what they fear and despise most, it just takes a single push…"**_

Garfield's eyes slowly became two once more and the red skin becoming green again, Trigon wasn't shutting up, _**"That's why they're called Inner Demons, Garfield! - "**_

That was it, Trigon didn't continue, it was over, Garfield had taken a life, at least it was Trigon's.

The demon just wouldn't shut up, Garfield reacted on primal instinct, he snapped Trigon's neck and may or may not have accidentally torn skin and tissue from said neck while doing so, claws right?

Garfield noticed a portal open and slowly closing, he knew what to do. __


	13. Chapter 13

_**Mark of Trigon Chapter 13: Home**_

On Earth, the portal had opened and was ever so slowly closing, this meant the fight was over - Someone was going to come back to Earth, Beast Boy or Trigon?

Raven gazed unmoving, focused on the portal, Garfield made a promise, did he keep it?

A figure leapt through the portal just before it closed, forever.

The teams watched in relief at who it was, and were very impressed despite the odds.

Raven, she stared unmoving at the sight of the ritual's victor, he did keep his promise, Garfield had won, Trigon was no more.

Without her telling it to, her body moved, where you ask?

Towards him.

She sprinted to him and pulled him into a tight hug, never wanting to let go.

She almost lost him today, all because of her father's desperate attempts at claiming Earth.

Something she alone thought only she would bear, she didn't want anyone else to go through the pain of knowing that they were a sacrifice, a means to an end.

But just like she had, with the help of the people that came to be her friends and family, she and them returned the favor when one of their own went through something that could've been much worse.

She noticed now that Garfield was hugging back, the markings no longer on his body, it was truly over.

She blushed lightly when she noticed that Garfield didn't have his shirt, despite this she didn't care, Garfield had survived, and that's what he was, a survivor.

She finally found the voice to speak, "You came back."

She got a rather calming response, "Why wouldn't I?"

She sighed, simply enjoying the comfort within his arms, maybe she should tell him, tell him what she's been denying since the day she met him.

Something he would no doubt return ten-fold, if need be.

That she not only cared surprisingly enough, more than that even.

The fact that with all her heart and soul.

She didn't hate him.

She liked him, in fact.

She loved him.

She decided to let it out, not wanting to miss the chance after she almost never got.

"I love you."

He responded with a kiss, that she most certainly returned.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Was his ever so cheeky reply.


End file.
